The Life of VW Jetta and Me

Timeline

• January 2009 - I abandoned Japanese cars and bought a German car, Volkswagen Jetta (118 TSI with 7-speed DSG).
• February 2009 - Experienced lost of power twice on the road.  Restarting the engine resolved the issue.  Back to dealer, they cannot identify any problem.  Anyway, the problem was away for 2 years...
• December 2012 - After almost 4 years of smooth drive with only 20,000km, I hit the jackpot.  Engine light went on.  Car rocked greatly.  I brought it back to dealer; after two weeks in the shop, I finally managed to get a loan car.  My Jetta would be in the shop for weeks apparently.
• January 2013 - My car engine was rebuilt after 6 weeks.  Yeah!  I drove the car back; just before I parked it into the garage.  The engine light went on again.  Went back to dealer and somehow it was fixed in 2 days.
• February 2013 - After one month of nervous driving, the engine light went on again.  No...  This time, it was fixed in a couple of days again.
• March 2013 - By now, I have researched on the Internet and found out how big the problem is for Volkswagen.  I have decided to switch back to Japanese again.  So long, VW!

I probably won't buy a Volkswagen due to its reliability issue, but I would admit that it was a great car.  Solid built, great spec and user friendly.  The engine rebuild was free of charge even my car was outside of warranty period.  I know that we are protected under Australian Consumer Law, but I did not need to negotiate with VW at all.  VW just did it willingly.  That was another thing I like about VW.

Due to the reliability issue, the trade-in value of this car was around $13,000.  With the mileage of 20,000km, this car costs me $1.6 for each kilometre I drove.  Well, I figured it would be cheaper if I took taxi all these years instead.

* Current Volkswagen Issues